Very Good Indeed

Rating: 9/10 (4 November 2002)

This film brings something new to the genre. Difficult to describe, it somehow manages to be more convincing, more real, and produced a more intense physical reaction from me than I have ever experienced in the cinema before.
Perhaps the key is the random ordinariness of the main characters, and the familiar-but-different background - both story and scenery. Whatever the technical reasons, I know I nearly crushed my girlfriend's hand a couple of times, and it was the closest I have ever been to the definitively futile gesture that is yelling advice to the characters on the screen.
It's certainly true that some of the scenes are "borrowed" from famous apocalyptic film visions of the past, but it's no worse for that. There has been more effort to make the story hang together than most, and it's only where budget constraints have restricted the maker's freedom that the plot creaks a bit. There are only a couple of Alex Garland's trademark mistakes in the script, which for him is better than average.
Coming so soon after "Dog Soldiers", a very different but very entertaining film, I wonder if this could be an indication that the UK industry can challenge Hollywood in mainstream, non-costume drama, cinema. I look forward to seeing how both films do in the US and think that with the right marketing they could be huge.
I would also like to find out whether the version being shown in cinemas now has been changed at all from the original.